on a kitchen shelf in March

Spring has arrived at our farm!

Tiny Steiff chick & vintage seed pack.

         Ironstone & chicken carts.

German eggs & sweet floral tea cups.

Sweet spring, arrived ~ even before April!

What says "spring" at your home?

busy girl

she runs, she plays....sparkly toys are best

Rosie is a busy girl!

How a little kitten can have such energy!

Not to mention how I was able to capture it....did not intend to create a "gif"~~

Just kind of happened, just kind of amused me that I unintentionally did this!

(Took a string of pictures, and the computer did this on her own.)

So, please enjoy my busy girl playing in the kitchen!

(Pardon if it makes you a tad sea sick...smile.)

P.S. Just a little note, sometimes I open up a post for comments....sometimes I don't.  

I know how busy folks are ~ I always feel a tad guilty myself when I visit a blog and don't have time to leave a comment....so when there is no "Comment Section" open on one of my posts, it's indeed intentional.  I just so appreciate that you popped by for a visit!

down the road

Villages have lanes, cities have streets,

in the country, we have roads....

rural roads, county roads, country roads.

This is the road I travel to my office on.

County Road R to Barka Road to County Road HH,

eventually to Wisconsin Street in Eau Claire.

Along this road are stories:

  The 6 deer that stop their feeding to gaze at me.

  The horse that lives in the front yard of a house....right there next to the deck.

  The elderly woman, still mowing her acre of yard, tending a farm now on her own.

  The dead cow laying near the barn waiting to be hauled away.

  The woman running with her two dogs, waving as I pass.

  "Circle Dog" that comes out to chase my car, spinning in circles...thus the name.

  The cows waiting in line to come in from their fields, some kind of order.

  The roll of twine, still sitting on the round bale of hay.

These roads call to me.  Over & over they beckon.  

Each mile brings hundreds of stories and lost poems along the way.

  

     

such kindness

I came home a tad early from work today...

to find this waiting beneath my roadside mailbox.

Yellow tulips in a vintage tin with a sweet rusty heart adornment.

No note or name or card.  Just a sweet gift.

This is kindness, packaged in care.

To whomever left this sweet sweet gift, 

you have touched my heart.

Kindness matters.

Welcome home Spring!

How we have missed you!

Now shoosh with you snow & winter!

We are all just a tad ready for warm days & sun!

if you give a goat a cookie

Let me introduce you to Little Moo, one of our fainting goats.

He came to live at our farm about 5 years ago, and is our 

most timid goat.  Of course he is also the one that now needs 

a daily dose of penicillin for a week ~~ administered with a needle

that, honest to goodness, is the size of a large nail.  And, besides

the first injection, given by our vet.....I am the resident shot giver.

I have fretted over the proper way to administer a shot IM (that is Vet

lingo for intramuscular) vs. subcutaneous (under the skin).  I can now

talk shots and locations to administer said shot on said goat with the best.

Yes, thanks to Google & Youtube, I am an amateur veterinarian!

Besides the fact that the first shot went into my very own finger, I am doing

pretty well.  The past two days, moo didn't even run from me.....could it be the

sugar cookie hidden in my pocket that he gets once the deed is done?

Not that this was ever on my bucket list, 

but all the same, crossing it off!

North I say!

Heading north today to check on our wee cabin.

Can feel spring in the air!

Signs wait for the return of boaters & hikers.

The west fork of the upper 

Chippewa River begins to thaw.

Getting thru the existing snow, back to the cabin was an 

experience.....now we understand the concept of snowshoes.

With each step, we found ourselves hip deep in snow.  We 

had to take turns taking the lead, creating a walkway.  Several

times I found myself stuck, fallen on a knee...trying to climb up

& out in fits of laughter.  I surely do not know how the deer have

survived this tricky winter....although we did come upon four,

running down the road, white tails up & bobbing.

We figure next time we are back in Winter (yes, that is the 

Wisconsin town our property is in), the trillium will be in bloom.

Killarney

Even though white is all I see out the window, the snow is beginning to recede.

Our snow measurer shows that we are now under a foot at the drift line...and the long gravel

driveway back to the barn is again visible.  A "lake" appears in the orchard as 

do a small flock of returning robins.  The remaining apples in the tree tops are their 

treat.  It feels warm in the sun, mittens are cast off.  The animals are beginning to

feel ready to come out of the barn, and cat sightings under the bird feeder begin anew.

This has been a tough winter to get through, especially hard on outside animals.

We have a call into the Vet, as one of our goats appears to have an abscessed tooth.

He handles it without complaint.  We all feel ready for green pasture & warmth.

With St. Patty's day just around the corner, feels like we are heading toward

spring inside too.  Cannot wait to open the green trunk in the living room and

again take out the vintage goodies that will reside in the house thru August!

But for now, an abundance of Irish green will keep us focused!  A golden swan 

holds a vintage postcard from days when greetings were sent with haste for 

even this celebration.  The wind again feels at our back as we cross the finish line to spring.

evolution of a collection

It starts with two...

And becomes many...

I adore tin.  I also adore vintage seasonal.

Combine the two in old tin cookie cutters, 

and a collection begins.  

I keep Rubbermade bins in the basement labeled by season, holiday.

Each time I find something, it is added.  I often am surprised when I

open a bin to change out decorations and find a small village of one item.

Such was the case with tin shamrock cookie cutters.  One became many.

They just come out in March!

However, I do keep out a bowl of hearts & stars all year.

What are you currently on the hunt for...what is becoming a collection?

sweet

In the early morning sun, I enjoy having

little surprises await around each corner.
I miss these sweet details when I am away.

Vintage pottery, a jar with just one feather

& a sweet quilted doily.

Waiting for me each morning in our bathroom.

It is good to be home again!

Home, always sweet home!

P.S. My 25% off sale in my booth & case at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique Mall ends at 5:00 on Saturday, March 8!  Stop by and find something sweet!

reprieve

I am heading off to training in Wausau for work for

several days this week.....spending several days away

from home makes me just say, "Yuk!".  

So today, I will fill up on home...build up my immune system

toward hotel rooms & Power Point presentations.

I will retreat and find reprieve & solace at the farm.  My

Country Living & Midwest Living arrived yesterday.  My 

new obsession, True Detective (a complex, thinking show), 

is on tonight. 

This will be a quiet day to rest & relax before busy days arrive.

Green, green, green!  Wallpaper in

our Den/T.V. Room makes for a cozy room.

From our Living Room into our Den...

always feels inviting to me.  One vintage 

rug to the next underfoot.

Our Den with a couch to curl up on.  

We can watch the birds feed outside our window.

Do you find time to just put your feet up and hold the world at bay?

Adding Happy Happy Birthday (one day early) to my sister, Lori! xxoo

like a lamb?

Today we finally greet March!

Hard to figure out how this month arrived...today feels quiet.

But, in looking outside at glacier banks of snow, whiplashed 

trees from too long a winter, and animals that venture out only

moments away from their barn...think we have already had too much "lion".

I am longing, as we all are, for dog days of anything, but winter.

So, as always, I entertain this month with sweet vintage finds - 

this month with a St. Patty's Day theme.

Green, brown & gold fill the house as we await spring.

Friday was a day off for me as I had filled my 40 hour work week at

Thursday's end.  Dave & I headed east to 4 antique shops in the 

Stevens Point area.  Such fun....until the snow arrived.  Fairly 

treacherous drive home.  Today our back room is filled with the

goodies from our travels, waiting to be unpacked...pieces of 

spring - flower frogs, wire plant stands, Audubon bird prints & more.

No matter if it arrives with a baa, bark or growl....spring will be cause for celebration!